We stayed close to home over the holidays. It's been so nice to have relaxed time together to enjoy the beautiful area where we live. We really enjoyed a summer Christmas. It's so different from what we are used to that it makes it easier to be away from family. Although we do miss them so much and are excited to be closer soon!!

We've played at the beaches in our area, relaxed on some boat rides, and have enjoyed time with our friends in Gissy. The high point of the most recent boat ride was seeing dolphins! So keep looking until the end and you will see some Common Dolphins. It has been a dream of mine to see them in the wild, so yay for that! We are trying to make the most of everyday we have left in this beautiful county and spend lots of quality time with the people who have made it so enjoyable. Happy New Year:)

Taking a seven year old and a three year old on a two night backpacking trip means two things: heavy packs, and enormous potential for disaster. And so, we planned a trip to Lake Waikaramoana, one of the Great Walks of New Zealand. In it's entirety, it is a five day loop that circles the lake in remote, native forest. Since Cohen's legs are only twelve inches long, we opted to shorten that. We decided on a three day, two night trip, staying at two DOC huts along the way. The first day was a short walk, just an hour or two walking to the first hut. The second day was a solid four hours on the trail. And the last day was a boat ride from the hut back to the car. Elias was able to carry his own water, some snacks, and some of his clothes. Cohen was going to be unconsolable without his pillow-pet, so that's pretty much the only thing that fit in his backpack. Our weather was good, but it had rained hard for a few days beforehand. That left the trail very muddy with lots of standing water. We negotiated it pretty well, though it meant lifting boys-plus-packs over lots of sloppy trail. Thank you, Gortex lined boots. We saw amazing native bush, lots of birds, great views of the lake, and had the huts to ourselves both nights. The boys were troopers, with no complaining the whole way. They especially loved the boat ride; I think we all did. Liz did great, as well. Not a lot of women would be willing to deal with three boys in the wilderness, but she does it with grace (and some cursing, but mostly grace). Given the potential for disasters of many kinds, it went fantastically. We love being outdoors with the boys. The extra pictures are of the bow-and-arrow sets that I made for Elias, and some pictures from Liz's first New Zealand regatta. She did great in her first race in eleven years!

After a month of looking at the mountains of Tongariro National Park across the lake, I had the chance to take Elias to the park to hike a portion of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. The Crossing is 19.3 km and traverses between Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ngauruhoe. The area was used for filming portions of The Lord of the Rings, with Mt Ngauruhoe serving as Mount Doom. It is a nearly perfect cinder cone volcano. Mt. Tongariro is still active, most recently throwing rocks and ash in a fairly sizable eruption this August. One of the tramping huts was the only thing damaged. It is often sited as the best day hike in New Zealand and among the top 10 day hikes in the world. By the way, who gets to decide which are the top 10 day hikes in the world? Can I apply for that job? I can walk for a day and am capable of making a list. That should qualify me as much as the next guy, right? I picked up a proper pack for Elias, complete with hydration bladder, at Kathmandu. Kathmandu seems to be the Australia/NZ equivalent of REI. By that I mean they have good quality, really overpriced stuff; but if you head to the clearance racks, you can find some deals. Also, they make me want to spend way more money than I should. I am now a member. It is early in the season with lots of snow on the mountains. And I had Elias with me, so taking on the whole Crossing wasn’t realistic. Elias was keen to give it a go, and we decided that we would walk as long as he liked and then turn around. The trailhead is a little over an hour drive from our house. The first portion of the trail was pretty smooth, but it soon became very rocky and uneven. Lots of ankle-breaking potential. Elias was an amazing little hiker. He carried his pack without complaint (in fact I think the new pack made him a little more excited, especially since he could drink out of it). Since he’s only three feet tall, a fair bit of the trail was more like scrambling than hiking for him, but I only had to help him climb one spot. The rest he managed on his own. We stopped at a hut for a quick snack. We carried on from there, hiking beside a cold clear stream that cascaded down the valley next to us. On reaching the three km mark, we agreed that it would be a good place to take a short break, eat a snack, and head back for home. It took us two hours to reach the turn around; Elias was pretty single-minded about reaching the car, so we made the return trip in about 45 minutes. We can’t wait to go back; come join us next time! Elias made a video to summarize our trip. Enjoy.

Mount Tauhara lies just outside Taupo to the east. It’s only a ten-minute drive from our house and rises about 2300ft from base to summit. I’ve been eyeing the mountain since we arrived, as it is the backdrop to the hospital every time I drive up to work. So today Liz and I arranged a babysitter for the afternoon and hiked to the summit.The trail starts at a sheep and dairy farm and the entire trail is on private land. The owners allow hikers on the property, just asking that they close the gates so the sheep don’t get out and pick up their own rubbish. Must be working, because the sheep seemed pretty well corralled and there isn’t really any rubbish to be seen. We followed the fence posts up a grassy hill with sheep roaming around us. I was hoping to get close enough to consider the possibility of riding one, but they are a bit skittish. As we continued, we hopped a few fences and were soon in a lush tropical forest. The change of vegetation is amazing. It’s hard to believe you’re still on the same hill. The ascent was steep and we were humbled by the site of considerably older Kiwi’s passing us, looking like they were just going for a walk in the park. When we reached the summit, the views were fantastic. We could see White Island, an active volcano that lies off the coast to the northeast. To the southwest we looked over Lake Taupo to Mt. Tongariro. We also had the opportunity to witness a young man strip naked to stand on a (fortunately) remote rocky peak. We gave him time to finish his little display, then snapped some photos and had a snack. The walk up took just under two hours. The walk down was much quicker and much easier. We still can’t get believe that we have the privilege to live in a place that has such amazing landscapes right out our door.

We have been enjoying the beautiful scenery everywhere here. Jared starts work on Monday so we have been trying to explore as a family before then. On Thursday we took a hike to Huka Falls. We went through a forest that seemed very tropical with palm trees, huge fern plants and lush greenery. There is volcanic activity everywhere here! Mostly just hot springs and steam shooting up at different areas, but one mountain exploded some hot rocks and ash the week before we arrived. On the trail to the falls, we passed a hot spring. It was about 58 degrees outside and people were in their bathing suits in the hot spring that emptied into the river! It was crazy, it felt like a hot tub. It was close to a 2 mile hike to get to the falls, but with the boys, it took us about 2 hours. The boys were not up for another 2 hour hike, so Jared volunteered to hike quickly back to the car and pick us up in the car lot close to the viewing area of the falls. He made it back to the car in 25 minutes! It was a good choice:) The boys and I bought some post cards and candy bars while we waited.

Yesterday we decided to drive around Lake Taupo. We can see views of this lake from our house and it's about a 100 mile drive around it through beautiful countryside. We didn't see much traffic and enjoyed not being on a schedule. Last night we were invited over for our first authentic New Zealand home cooked meal. I made some contacts through a home school group online and the moms through this group have so helpful and welcoming to us. The main course was roasted lamb and it was delicious. They encouraged us to try it with mint sauce and that was tasty as well. She also made roasted pumpkin, potatoes, a carrot dish, gravy, and banana cake. Yum! We added some bread and enjoyed visiting with them. They have 2 boys ages 9 and 15. They are into Legos as well, so Elias was in good company. Many of you know Elias' obsession with the show "Wipe Out" and much to his joy, their 9 year old wanted to know if Elias wanted to watch it with him:) Of all the American shows to have on their prime time... Speaking of that, the New Zealand shows are... interesting. Not so funny British humor in their sitcoms and not so dramatic, bad story line dramas:)Anyway, a great couple of days...